Hey hayray

[TGIN]

I think it was you that had said you planted some Birdsfoot Trefoil . Just wandering how it did this yr. I`m wanting to get some planted but just hav`nt had time .

 

[hayray]

Yeah that was me and Animal. My first cut was real good on a pure stand and then it sure does not grow much once it got dry but I did get a second cut. On a couple mixed stands I did get three cuts however. With the high fertilizer cost and already having almost alfalfa acreage then I can get to at a timely fashion I am planning on planting more trefoil. It will yield less then alfalfa but it won't loose quality like alfalfa, does not matter if you go all summer before you cut it. Also it does not get leaf hopper damage either. Plant the new variety called Bull Trefoil that Seed Solutions is selling and plant at 1/3 to twice the recommended rate if you want it to come up like alfalfa, otherwise the older varieties take a year or two to establish. Also, don't forget to innoculat, will not establish otherwise.

 

[TGIN]

I`m looking to seed it in a mix with grass on some hilltops that dont get cut till last , then pasture in the fall . I think it will fit in real well .

 

[hayray]

That is what most people use it for as a mix with grass because pure stands have been hard to establish. My guidelines for the seed rate was if you want a stand for hay production. Be strategic about what grasses you plant with it, as grasses like Orchard and Brome may come on too fast and out compete the Trefoil. The last stand I did as mix I planted the trefoil first and then went in a month later and broadcast a tetraploid variety of Italian Ryegrass.

 

[TGIN]

For the most part when I plant OG and Alfalfa in the spring with oats the OG dont show much till the second cut of the second yr. , Will that give it time to get established and how many lbs. should I plant to the A. ?

 

[hayray]

I would plant 15 lbs. per acre. If your OG takes a year to get going then that will work. I bale a trefoil-OG field that is 30 years old now and the trefoil is real persistant and still thick. This particular field was used as a pasture for many year. I planted a field after oat hay in the fall and the volunteer oats came in way too fast and crowded out the trefoil, I won't do that again.

 

[shawnspeed3]

Hey ray, how are your turnups doing???? I ended up pasturing my Jap Millet because it got frosted in Oct. .....it sometimes sucks being in a valley...The cows loved it ...couldn't decide between the turnips or the millet....ate it all to the ground eventually. I am definately ordering more millet for hay next year, I do not wan't to buy hay like I am now....Shawn in Lapeer Co.

 

[Animal]

I planted some of the bull trefoil in mid Sept., I planted it deep as the instruction called for with inoculant, it layed there, until we got six inches of rain, its thick and green now but not too tall, I am hoping it does not winter kill, but as hardy as it seems to be I think it has a real good chance.

 

[hayray]

Hey Shawn,

the turnips are doing awesome, just had the Lapeer County Extension Agent come down yesterday on his way to Howell and check them out, he took a bunch of pictures to use in some future forage seminars. I turned the cattle on them in mid October and still have not even made a dent, have about 4 tons of dry matter per acre. Does the millet look a lot like foxtail? I am going to do turnips for sure in another patch for the spring and then plant another patch for fall grazing I am getting an extra couple months of grazing off of them and that works out great because I do a lot of fall calving, so I am getting 20% protein and 80% TDN, that is better then spring grass.

 

[hayray]

You can't kill that stuff so I would not worry. It won't get real tall anyways especially this year, it seems to grow more thick. Were did you get the Bull trefoil seed?

 

[shawnspeed3]

yes, the millit looks similar to foxtail. Yes, I too am planning for next years forage crop and turnips look like they will be planted for summer and fall grazing , along with some annual rye to beef up some of my existing pasture. I am also thinking of planting some mammoth clover for a single cut of hay and fall plowdown. You use clover much by you??

 

[hayray]

I planted some Red Clover on some hill sides in a trefoil field and it grew real good, but on year two which was this year it died in that drought and provided a lot of brown trash in my field, it only is a two year crop anyways. But I was told to plant red clover this spring where the turnips are now to get some nitrogen credits and then in August kill it off and plant turnips again, so that looks like an option.